9 days of food in a bearvault? Is this really doable?
At 1.25-1.5 lbs per day, 9 days is 12-14 lbs of food. Doable, with careful food selection and lots of compression force. 10 lbs = 7 days is more realistic. The claim of 10 kg (22 lbs) of food in a bear vault must be a world record. A BV500 full of water is about 23.5 lbs. Or are we talking about different models and sizes? Get that straight. If you're renting a Garcia bear canister, than it's even smaller than a bear vault.
It's also hard to gauge how quickly we will be able to get through the second half of the trip...the people we are going with are quite a bit slower than us so I am trying to imagine worst case scenario.
So why add anything beyond the 110 miles from MTR after your last resupply? The $65 fee can be split by 2 people, so it's really $32.50 per person, with no boat ride fee. If you really want to resupply at VVR, then get bigger canisters for 2 more days food, resupply again along the way, or hike faster.
I think you need to do more homework. You should click on those links I posted above (and links by others too), order the best guide book on Amazon. Combine that knowledge together with a better assessment of the your group's capabilities to make the best plan you can - with options. Rank your priorities - what's most important, is it saving money, finishing as fast as possible, getting everyone across the finish line, etc. What if some people can't make it? What will define a successful trip of a lifetime, because that's what it should be, a trip of a lifetime, especially if you're travel so far to do this. You should be able to send your resupply food as soon as you get here rather than from the UK. Planning is everything at this point, and information comes from homework. You'll probably need to adapt your plan along the way, which also requires knowledge, which comes from homework.
